This invention relates to a front end covering for a motor vehicle.
From German Patent Document DE-A 35 42 376, a front end covering is known which has a groove-shaped air conducting path for the cooling of the brakes and which, having a convex shape with respect to the roadway, extends from the vehicle front towards the interior side of the wheel. This groove is integrated into an underbody covering whose adjacent contour in front of the front wheel, also shaped in a convex manner, ends in front of the front wheel. As a result of this convexly shaped air conducting path in front of the front wheel which aims the air stream directly at the wheel, a high pressure is created in the wheel house which impairs the flow in the adjacent groove. As a result, the flow is decelerated whereby it can detach from the contour of the conducting surface in the groove, and therefore a smaller air flow reaches the brakes for cooling them. In this case, this disadvantage must be compensated by an air conducting part which covers a lot of space, causes costs and adjoins the groove. In addition, this air conducting part increases the lift at the front axle and the drag coefficient.
The following documents are mentioned with respect to the general background of the invention: German Patent Document DE-A 39 02 886 and German Patent Document DE-C 36 17 538.
An object of the invention is to improve the air stream flow in the groove of a front end covering of the initially mentioned type and thus improve the cooling of the brakes.
This object is achieved according to preferred embodiments of the invention by providing a front end covering for a passenger car, comprising airconducting paths which extend above the roadway on both sides from a vehicle front in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle, extend next to one another and are curved in the vertical direction of the vehicle, one of the air conducting paths respectively ending in front of the front wheel and the other being constructed, in each case, as a groove which is directed towards the interior side of the wheel and which is constructed with a cross-section which is open in the direction of the roadway and, on the bottom facing the vehicle underside has an upwardly extending conducting surface which is curved convexly with respect to the roadway, wherein the respective air conducting path which ends in front of the front wheel is curved in a concave manner towards the roadway against the curvature of the conducting surface which is directed towards the interior side of the wheel, and wherein the distance between the air conducting path and the roadway is increasingly reduced in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
As a result of this front end covering, the aerodynamic flow around the vehicle is improved and a good cooling of the brakes is also achieved. The air conducting path, which is curved concavely with respect to the roadway and ends in front of the front wheel, improves the flow around the front wheel, displaces the stagnation point in front of the wheel in the direction of the roadway and thereby prevents a high pressure in the wheel house in front of the front wheel, whereby the flow can follow the conducting surface in the groove to the brakes. A high pressure would have the result that the flow in the groove would be decelerated and would be detached from the conducting surface in the groove whereby a deterioration would be caused of the cooling of the brakes. In addition, the increasing curvature of the conducting surface of the groove decreases the influence of the distance between the roadway and the vehicle floor on the cooling of the brakes.
The groove can be adapted to the vehicle conditions in such a manner that, when the degree of steering lock differs, a sufficient amount of cooling air is always conducted to the brakes. The front end covering, as a separately mountable assembly part, also allows a shaping in the sense of a covering plate which protects the engine compartment from dirt.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.